Hope
by JessFS
Summary: When Castle and Beckett find themselves trapped in close confines, what confessions make their way to the surface? My take on a scene from the upcoming two-parter.    Spoilers for all promotional material for 3x16 and 3x17.


DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, except for the idea. And if it ends up coming true... then I don't own that either! But man, are these guys fun to play with. Also posted on CastleTV's forum. I just had to wait two days for my new account here to activate. :)

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Detective Kate Beckett felt a growl threatening to escape her throat as she threw her body against the cold metal door. Ignoring the shooting pain in her shoulder, she bit down on her lower lip and lifted her gaze to meet that of her partner. Richard Castle was staring back at her with wide eyes, rubbing his shoulder with one hand while the other reached absent-mindedly for his coat pocket. Kate watched as he produced his phone and proceeded to travel about the frozen chamber, holding it at various heights and angles.

"Castle, you aren't going to just randomly pick up a rogue signal in here."

He came to a stop, turning his head toward her as he balanced precariously on one foot, holding his phone high above his head. "By all means, Detective... I'm open to other ideas."

Kate took one hesitant look toward the frozen body lying close by Castle's feet before she slipped her own phone from the pocket of her jeans, mimicking his motions in various corners. She humored her partner for a few moments, before the mocking 'roaming' graphic got the best of her and she sank to the ground along one wall.

With her head buried in her hands, she didn't notice he had knelt in front of her until he reached out and rubbed his hands over her arms, simultaneously comforting her and providing her with what little warmth he could sacrifice. "It's okay, Kate. We can figure this out."

When she looked up, he saw a quick flicker of determination before she slowly shook her head. "Nobody else knows where we are, Castle. Even if they figured it out, how…"

He quickly rose to his feet, startling Kate into silence. Pacing back and forth furiously, he ran his fingers through his hair in a desperate attempt to find something… anything… to keep his jittery nerves occupied. With one final glance at his cell phone, he slid down the wall, coming to rest a few inches from her on the cold floor. He tried to imitate her position, drawing his knees into his body in a vain attempt to insulate his body heat.

She turned to look at him, and rested her cheek on her arms. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk like that. There should always be hope."

Castle stared straight ahead, and a small smile tugged at his lips. "Aren't I supposed to be the hopelessly optimistic half of this dynamic duo?"

She shook her head minutely, summoning an eye roll for his benefit. "Optimism or not, we aren't going to get anywhere by just giving up, Castle."

"Should we try running into the door again?" He started to get to his feet when her hand shot out and rested on his knee.

"No. Sit. Try not to waste any of your energy." He was frozen, half sitting and half standing, with his eyes trained on the sight of her hand so casually placed on his leg. She followed his gaze and removed her hand, twisting her head so that she faced the opposite wall, away from him.

Long after she had taken the hand away, Castle was still staring at the back of her head. He was memorizing the way her smooth hair transformed into perfect curls halfway down the nape of her neck, and the way her body curled around itself as if she were in the most natural position in the world, whereas anyone else would have looked like an uncomfortable knot of tension and fear.

"He's moving to Africa."

The words were only a whisper, but they caught his attention immediately, and she felt as if his eyes were boring holes into her. She held her breath, waiting for the myriad of questions she felt sure were bubbling just underneath his calm surface. When he made no attempt to speak, she turned to face him. The look on his face bordered on fear, but there was something underneath it that she couldn't put her finger on. It looked almost like hope had crept into the corner of his eyes, and she felt an undeniable urge to keep talking, to keep that hope alive.

"He asked me to go with him. I… I refused." Her voice cracked, betraying her calm exterior. "He was shocked. I couldn't explain to him why it was so important to me that I stay in New York… why there is too much left unresolved here, too much I still have left to do…"

"You never told him about your mother's case." He said, more of a statement than a question. "He couldn't have known…"

She laughed, without even realizing she had done it. "It's not just my mother's case, Castle. Sure, that's always going to be a huge part of who I am, but it's not the only thing I never could have shared with Josh."

He slowly raised an eyebrow, obviously intrigued but wary of saying anything that would cause her to start rebuilding the wall he had worked so tirelessly at tearing down. Instead, he settled for a murmured but heartfelt, "I'm sorry." He ached to put an arm around her, to pull her close and reassure her that someday she would have the one person she could tell all of her secrets, but before he could react she had turned her head away from him once more, and his ears had to strain to hear her next words.

"He was never what I wanted."

His sharp intake of breath peaked her curiosity, but she was afraid she would lose whatever courage she had managed to find in this frozen prison if she so much as dared a glimpse of him, so she remained still, staring at the wall without really seeing.

"I would have gone with you, you know." She whispered. "To the Hamptons."

He shut his eyes and let his head fall backwards to rest on the cold wall behind him. He had suspected, months ago, that she had never merely wanted to tell him to have a good summer that night at the precinct. But to hear her confession now, trapped in a freezer and slowly realizing that whatever life they could have shared was in jeopardy of being cut short, was nothing but torture.

When he reopened his eyes, she was kneeling opposite of him, staring at him with a mixture of vulnerability, confusion and… was it fear? Fear not of their current predicament, but of his reaction to her words?

He held her gaze for several moments as he gathered his racing thoughts. All of the moments they had shared since his return in September blazed through his mind: The interrogations, the bantering, the looks, the intimate conversation… the kiss. Each precious memory flooded him with emotion as he stared into her eyes. He couldn't ignore the irony that his mastery of words had failed him at the one moment he was relying on it the most.

Kate took a deep, shuddering breath. "Rick – "

Suddenly the door of the freezer burst open, and Kate spun on her heels, her gun out of the holster and at the ready by the time Castle managed to make it to his knees.

Agent Fallon stood in the doorway to the chamber, surrounded by an entourage of NYPD detectives and federal agents. Kate felt a brilliant surge of relief course through her body at the sight. But as they were quickly ushered out of the building and wrapped in blankets from the waiting squad cars, she was hit with a sharp stab of regret for the moment of confession that had been wrenched from her just minutes before.

As she stood sandwiched between Ryan and Esposito, she felt someone come up behind her and lean down to her ear.

"You were right, you know." Castle whispered softly. "There should always be hope."


End file.
